QB Daniels, South Florida pose big threat to UConn

Updated 2:08 am, Saturday, October 15, 2011

STORRS -- After doing its best to heal from the back-to-back toastings courtesy of the Western Michigan and West Virginia offense, the UConn defense is preparing to face the fire again.

South Florida (4-1) brings its Big East-leading offense to Rentschler Field today (3:30, SNY). It is an offense that averages 503.6 yards a game and brings yet another high-intensity quarterback that is going to try and make life miserable for a Husky defense that has fallen to fifth in the eight-team Big East in total defense and, even worse, seventh in pass defense.

"This is a great team we're facing this week, they put up about 500 yards a game. They attack you through the air and on the ground, so it's a big challenge," defensive tackle Kendall Reyes said earlier this week. "I believe he averages around seven yards a carry and he's the second leading rusher. You definitely have to contain him."

The "he" is Bulls quarterback B.J. Daniels, who averages 258.8 yards through the air and 51.6 yards a game on the ground. Not only can he throw (eight touchdowns), but he can scramble and avoid pressure, traits that head coach Paul Pasqualoni says creates chaos on the field.

"There's no question that he's looking to scramble," Pasqualoni said. "He and his receivers have great chemistry and when he starts scrambling, they will break off their routes off and try to get back in the direction he's going. It's chaos, but it's pretty organized chaos."

So, the key word for the defense this week is "contain." "Daniels is a great quarterback, He's similar to (West Virginia's) Geno Smith. He can use his feet to escape. We have to focus on the little things, as a defensive line we have to watch a lot of film, see if we can pick up on tendencies," defensive tackle Twyon Martin said. "We have to keep pocket contain on him because if we rush four defensive linemen, there's going to be a gap somewhere. We have to collapse the pocket and make him throw out of a telephone booth."

A telephone booth?

"Basically, we want to collapse the pocket around him and not give him the ability to escape and make decisions with his arm," Reyes explained. "He's got a great ability to extend the play to either pull the ball down and run or make a pass downfield."

Daniels isn't the only worry for UConn. Running back Darrell Scott is a big (6-foot-1) and heavy (240 pounds) back who averages 6.5 yards a carry and has only been tackled for a loss once in 65 rushing attempts this season. Scott is fifth in the Big East in rushing with 424 yards.

"Scott is a wide-load as a back," Pasqualoni said. "He's a yards-after-contact guy and a good zone runner. If you put too many people in the box (to try and stop the run), they quickly throw it out to the wide receivers, so you've got that whole spread deal."

Humbled by two straight losses and frustrated by the fact that the defense has allowed nine touchdown passes and 948 yards passing in those two losses, the UConn defense is not discouraged. In fact, Reyes feels they're a little angry.

"Everyone seems to have a chip on their shoulder. We've got a lot to prove to ourselves at this point. We do have a great team, but we have to prove it to ourselves. Guys are hungry, they want to get after it right now," he said.

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"The defensive line, we have to do more. We have to keep our heads up. We've been in this situation before, where people doubted us but all that matters is what the people in this room think.

"We're not discouraged but we know we've got to clean things up and basically get focused on the second half of the season."